Big Hands
by indigowaterbears
Summary: "Really? We're discussing who has the biggest hands? With the kids?" Feeling brave, Amelia gathered all her efforts to pull a serious face and looked at Arizona as if she was reading way too much into this. "Is there something wrong with that? Men pride themselves in having big," she chuckled, not able to keep it in all the way. "Hands."
It was the day Amelia suddenly realized why you don't have adult conversations around children. And adult children, because they are just as bad, if not worse. Having promised Zola to pick her up from daycare – she'd come home the day before complaining how Callie promised to pick up Sofia and she wanted to have lunch at the cafeteria with her mommy like her – but Meredith had surgery and delegated, so she'd volunteered to pick up her niece. Now, Zola was sitting on her lap trying to eat spaghetti and getting it mostly on her aunt's scrubs, while Sofia was quietly munching on a sandwich on Callie's lap.

Amelia loved her niece, she loved her to bits, but lunch like this was boring and unhygienic. She most likely would have to take a shower as soon as she was done. The corner of her lips tugged as she caught Owen's eyes from across the room, in line to get lunch as well. Maybe she could kill two birds with a stone and get him in the shower with her, after all, she just needed to maneuver Zola on his lap for five minutes and he'd need one too. A soapy, wet Owen filled post lunch break was probably the best idea she'd ever had. All she had to do was make it through lunch and catch him as he was-

"You do know there are kids here, right?" came Callie's voice, sounding like she was making a great effort not to laugh.

Amelia turned to her, confusion written all over her face as she wracked her brain to understand where Callie was getting, coming up empty. "Uh?"

Callie nodded where Amelia's eyes had been previously planted. "Come on. You've been staring at Owen. He can't possibly be that good."

While it was there, her filter was generally a little slow and more often than not Amelia would speak whatever her brain made up as soon as it did. She was about to offer a sassy remark, with just enough dirty that Callie might shut up about it, all the while making it nearly impossible for the kids to catch on. It seemed as though Zola had even less of a filter than her aunt.

"Uncle Owen is really, really good." She said, with a mouthful of pasta. Nodding her head, as if to confirm her statement. Callie raised her eyebrows at Amelia, who started to blush from her neck all the way up. Zola, though, wasn't done. She turned her head up and – while Amelia was quick to clean her face with a napkin – she smiled. "And he's good with Auntie Amy too."

Callie cleared her throat and did her best not to laugh openly at Zola's innocent statement, while Amelia just shook her head in disapproval at the ortho surgeon's behavior.

"Good at what?" asked Sofia after a little, her question directed at Zola.

Zola shrugged her shoulders, sticking out her lower lip at her friend. "I dunno, I'll ask Auntie Amy." Her head turned up to look at her aunt's face again, but Amelia was looking at Callie, the two were having a silent conversation that both kids were entirely oblivious to. "Auntie Amy?"

"Yes, Zozo." Replied her aunt gently, passing the napkin on her mouth again, which Zola shook away annoyed.

"Is Uncle Owen that good?" she parroted Callie's words and she watched her aunt give Callie a mean look, like the one she gave Bailey when he would steal her toys. Taking a deep breath, her aunt looked down and nodded. "But how is he that good? Are not all boyfriends good?"

Amelia turned to Callie sharply, then turning down to her niece, muttering under her breath, "Meredith is going to kill me", using her million miles per hour brain to find a kid answer to Zola's question. "Well, he, uh… Uncle Owen gives really nice hugs."

"But how?" insisted Zola, cluelessly trying to understand the point of this conversation.

Amelia rolled her eyes, groaning to herself at how she was going to trip over her words sooner or later and then this would become the last time she was ever allowed to babysit. "I can't really explain it, Zo. He's just the best."

Sofia perked up at Amelia's words. "But Uncle Alex gives really nice hugs too. How can he give better hugs?"

Amelia turned to Callie, as if to say, _your turn_ , while they both shared a look. Obviously their fun conversation had suddenly turned to damage control. Sitting Sofia sideways in her lap, to be able to look down at her properly. "It's a little like when I say that you give the best kisses, it's because I love you and you're kisses are the best."

Zola tugged on Amelia's scrub top. "Does Uncle Owen give you the best kisses?"

"Thank you." Amelia deadpanned, glancing at Callie, before looking back down at Zola. "No," Amelia said in a high pitched voice, bending to tickle Zola. "You give me the best kisses!"

Arms flailing dangerously, squirming in her aunt's hold, Zola tried to grab her hands to stop her. "Wait, wait." She said breathless with anticipation. "I think I got it. Is it because Uncle Owen is reeeaally big and gives awesome bear hugs? Is that why he's the best?"

Amelia bit her lip, running out of kid appropriate answers to this returning question. "I guess. He has big hands so he can hug you better, right?"

It took a second for Zola to react and for Amelia to figure out the implications of what she'd just said. Zola shrugged, to Amelia's relief, seemingly dropping the matter altogether.

Callie and Amelia did their best not to burst out laughing, not only because they were in the middle of the cafeteria, but because that would only spur another endless string of questions from the little ones. Not able to resist it, though, after a few seconds Callie turned to Amelia and whispered. "He has reeeaaally big hands, uh?"

"Dear god." Amelia looked away, hoping the sudden warmth she felt on her face was actually tomato sauce from Zola's lunch and not her own skin burning up.

As little kids often do, though, Sofia had to add to this grown up talk she felt left out of. "Did daddy give good hugs too, mommy?" Callie nodded, brushing hair out of Sofia's face, hearing her talk about her dad was always a little bittersweet, but – almost as if she knew – Sofia shifted once again the tone. "Did he have big hands too?"

Clearing her throat and smacking her lips, hoping to regain a little more control on this she smiled down at her baby girl. "He did, sweetie."

"His hands were bigger than Uncle Owen's?"

Unable to keep it in anymore, Amelia burst out laughing, scaring Zola a little and confusing Sofia beyond belief. Callie gave her a disapproving look, but couldn't help a smile on her face as well. Before Callie could answer, before either – alleged - grown up could come up with any sort of answer, Owen and Arizona approached the table, sitting down, Owen at the head next to Amelia and Arizona right in front of him, next to Sofia. Both kids, high on food, jumped up and greeted the new arrivals, Sofia jumping directly on her mama's lap.

"You look like you're having loads of fun with Zola, uh?" asked innocently Arizona, missing Callie shake of her head completely, focusing on her little girl. "Are you having a nice time? What about you Miss Zola?"

Having inherited in some way the Shepherd unfiltered speaking habit, Zola – unlike Sofia who'd just snuggled up to her mama – perked up. "Yup! We were deciding who gives the best hugs!"

Again, before anyone could catch her eye, Arizona smiled. "Oh, yeah? Well, I think you two give the best hugs ever, ever."

"No, silly!" Insisted Zola, nodding at Callie and Amelia. "Auntie Amy said Uncle Owen gives the best hugs because he has the biggest hands, but then Uncle Mark gave really good hugs too." While Arizona frowned, her jaw slightly dropping, she shot Amelia and Callie a shocked look, but Zola wasn't done. "Do you know Auntie Zona? Who has the biggest hands?"

Silence fell in one of the noisiest tables around, which gave Owen a second to poke Amelia in the arm, getting her attention. When she turned, her lips were pressed together trying to hold in laughter and a delicate blush colored her cheeks. Owen looked at her inquisitively, wondering just what the hell was going on, figuring the grown ups and kids at the table were carrying on two very different conversations. With an apologetic look, Amelia smiled at him. "Just go with it."

But Arizona had sobered up in the meantime, glaring at the grown ups. "Really? We're discussing who has the biggest _hands_? With the kids?"

Feeling brave, Amelia gathered all her efforts to pull a serious face and looked at Arizona as if she was reading way too much into this. "Is there something wrong with that? Men pride themselves in having big," she chuckled, not able to keep it in all the way. "Hands."

Owen looked a bit taken aback and frankly a little embarrassed to have sat down – to quietly eat his lunch – at a table full of girls discussing his _hands._ Two of those girls were probably talking about just that, but he knew the other ones weren't and it was getting increasingly uncomfortable.

"I don't think you need big hands to give hugs anyway. My mommies give awesome hugs and their hands are smaller than Uncle Owen's or even daddy's because they're not boys." Said Sofia wisely, picking at what was left of her sandwich.

Arizona smile down at her girl, squeezing her and planting a big kiss on the top of her head. "Thank you, Sofia. Finally I hear some sense."

That would have been nice, that would have been perfect, but the Shepherd in Zola just couldn't let it go. "But I wanna know who gives the best hugs ever!" Zola whined.

Their intense focus on the conversation had distracted the whole table, so no one had noticed Meredith and Alex approaching, sitting respectively in front of Zola and Amelia and Callie. Seeing her mom, Zola smiled broadly, jumping up and down in her aunt's lap. "Do I hear whining?"

Looking down, with the metaphorical tail between her legs, Zola, shook her head guiltily. "Sorry, mommy." When a brave eye made it up to Meredith's, seeing the forgiving smile, she looked up again, not ready to give up just yet. "But they don't wanna tell me."

"Tell you what, Zo?"

Now Owen, Amelia, Callie and Arizona were all shaking their head in warning at Meredith, but – just like a few minutes before – it was too late. Zola recounted the whole discussion, frustrated that no one at the table had been able to give her a satisfying answer, ignoring the bouts of uncontrolled laughter coming from Uncle Alex, who looked like he was crying rather than laughing. "Do you know? Who has the biggest hands?"

Even Meredith was smiling, despite the nasty look she'd thrown at Callie and Amelia, who'd just looked at each other and shrugged. "Oh, baby, I don't. But, you know, there is one person here," said Meredith with a twinkle in her eye, she'd evidently decided to join in in the fun rather than get angry and uptight. "I think there is someone here who knows very well."

Zola extricated herself from her aunt's hold, jumping down to go to her mommy. Finally someone seemed to want to tell her what this was all about. She climbed carefully and Meredith too took the chance to wipe some more tomato sauce from her face, but Zola swatted her hand away. "So?" when instead of answering her mommy glared at her she reiterated. "May I know, please?"

"Of course, but I can't tell you." Meredith smirked. "I think Auntie Amy knows which one of your uncles has the biggest hands."

Amelia's eyes bulged out and everyone else's eyes – Sofia excluded – were on her. In that moment all the confidence she'd sported in this particular department seemed to leave Amelia, who wished a whole would appear beneath her, so she could just sink in and disappear. She couldn't bear to look at Owen, not knowing what was happening there, however, she caught Callie's surprised, but impressed look and Arizona's frown. Alex had burst out laughing once more the second he'd made the connection, muttering a "This is the best day ever."

Oblivious to the subtext, little Zola was impatiently waiting for her answer, a little frustrated with her aunt, who had neglected to answer before. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Amelia had planned to make her way out of this one too, dig and duck and do whatever necessary to avoid talking at all. Zola, though, was stubborn as… as her and Derek, really - and wasn't backing down. Knowing her aunt's weakness, she'd pulled out her puppy dog eyes, big brown eyes turning slightly dazed and glassy, looking up at Auntie Amy. "Oh, Zola. I, just, uh… I guess, uh -"

"Don't you know?"

"Yes." Amelia answered right away, not wanting to upset her niece, even though deep down she knew this all act she was pulling was just to get the information she wanted. In fact, Amelia was so distracted that she hadn't realized what her answer had implied. Noticing the looks thrown her way, especially Meredith's smug one, she decided to give back just what she was getting. "I'd say Uncle Owen wins."

The proud smile on Owen's face, earned her a squeeze on her leg under the table, but all around the rest of the table Callie and Arizona and Meredith weren't hiding their surprise, and Alex was shooting Owen a proud look, accompanied by a slow nod.

Zola, though, wrinkled her nose, staring at her Uncle Owen and Auntie Amy share yucky looks, her eyes going back and forth between the two adults. "You're just saying that because he's here." She huffed and the rest of the table nodded in agreement.

"Oh, Zola, I'm not." She smirked at Owen, but then turned her attention back to her niece. "Uncle Mark was very good at using his hands and, you know, everyone absolutely loved his hugs, but Uncle Owen wins, baby. His hands are definitely bigger."

Not entirely convinced, Zola frowned, still a little put off by Uncle Alex laughing like that. "Are you sure?"

"I am." Amelia pursed her lips, catching Owen's eye, grasping his hand on her leg under the table and giving it a squeeze. Recognizing the look in her eyes, Owen squeezed back. "But I could go check for you?"

"You would?"

Amelia nodded, ignoring the disgusted looks around the table, signaling she'd taken it too far for them, she was toeing the line where information would become too much information. "Of course." She turned to Owen. "Let's go measure up, Uncle Owen."

Owen just let her do, knowing he was only winning here and any interference would only go to the detriment of what he was about to get and he so needed that. Amelia stood, taking his hand with her and dragging him out of the cafeteria. The table was silent for a while, a longer while thanks to Zola's sated curiosity, but now the third kid at the table couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I like her. She's badass. She's the cool Shepherd." Alex nodded at Amelia's retreating form, snorting as he felt three arched eyebrows directed at him. "She banged Sloan _and_ Hunt and no one knew."

"Gross." Muttered Meredith and Arizona at the same time. Returning to their half finished lunch with even less appetite than before.

Quiet little Sofia had been sitting on her mama's lap carefully separating the crust on her sandwich making little pieces and piling them into shapes. She'd not been as interested in the whole debacle, because talking about her dad made her miss him a little, even though she didn't really remembered him. She made a mental note to ask Zola's aunt, who seemed to know him really well. Hearing Uncle Alex speak up about her, Sofia frowned. "How do you bang someone?"


End file.
